The prior art discloses machine tools having a tool-carrying work spindle. Said machine tools are nowadays usually provided with numeric controls and are known e.g. as milling machines, milling centers, universal milling machines or CNC machining centers having four, five or sometimes also more than five numerically controllable linear and/or rotational or swivel axes; see e.g. the machine tool according to DE 10 2010 064 271 A1.
Such machine tools having a tool-carrying work spindle have to be distinguished from machine tools having a workpiece-carrying work spindle, such as lathes, turning centers, double spindle lathes, multiple spindle lathes or multi-spindle automatic lathes.
The work spindle of such machine tools, in particular milling machines, milling centers, universal milling machines or CNC machining centers, is usually moved in different directions by means of a plurality of linear axes (e.g. travelling column milling machine). This is in particular suitable for processing cubic or approximately cubic workpieces.
It is a fundamental object in the machine tool building field, and also in particular an underlying object of the present invention, to provide a machine tool having a tool-carrying work spindle, in particular a machine tool for milling and/or drilling a workpiece, which functions accurately and reliably at the same time, with the shortest possible down times and which can also be provided in a cost-effective, compact and efficient way.
In particular the field of milling workpieces made of a composite material, in particular a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic material or CFK, calls for a more flexible and simultaneously accurate processing at high quantities. In order to process such components, in particular relatively large components, for which industrial robots cannot be used, a machine concept is required which renders possible a high processing motion flexibility with high degrees of freedom, high rigidity as well as high processing accuracy and efficiency.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide or propose a machine tool which renders possible a machine kinematics providing highly rigid components and simultaneously a high motion flexibility with high degrees of freedom and a high processing accuracy and/or control precision, and also renders possible efficient, precise and simple workpiece processing, in particular for carrying out milling work on small and large workpieces made of a composite material, in particular a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic material or CFK, on freeform surfaces.